Why traffic rules need updating to avoid automatic arrests in road accidents

Trigger warning: Mentions of death, accident

At around 10 am on February 11, a male student lost his life after falling along EDSA northbound.

The victim fell to the ground from the platform area of the Light Rail Transit’s Fernando Poe Jr. station, the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said, citing a witness testimony.

Afterwards, the student “came into the path” of a moving car driven by an alias “Albert” toward the Balintawak area.

According to the police, the victim sustained injuries and was declared dead at the scene.

At the onset, it may be deduced that the driver was not at fault for the incident. However, Albert was still held under police custody “while a thorough investigation is ongoing to determine all the circumstances surrounding the incident,” according to the QCPD.

This move caused an uproar because why would Albert — a driver passing by the road, unaware of the incident that would unfold — be held in custody for something he had no control over?

Standard procedures?

In a statement on February 12, the QCPD clarified that the driver was placed under police custody as part of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) standard operating procedures in incidents involving fatality.

“This measure is a part of the investigative process to ensure proper documentation and compliance with legal requirements,” the police said.

The QCPD initially said that the driver would face an inquest for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

An inquest proceeding is an expedited type of preliminary investigation done when a person is detained without a warrant. Under the RPC, a person arrested without a warrant should be brought to court within a maximum of 36 hours, and that is for grave violations.

However, amid the backlash, the QCPD later clarified that Albert would not face a case.

At 4 pm on February 12, the police also released the driver after investigation, and a review of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed that there was “no apparent indication of negligence on the part of the driver.” The QCPD added that the victim’s father executed a notarized letter indicating that he would not file a complaint against the driver.

Unnecessary detention

Human rights lawyer and National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL) president Ephraim Cortez told Rappler that the driver’s arrest was not only unnecessary but also had no legal basis.

“The standard operating procedure for the police is to conduct an investigation, but it does not justify taking him into custody,” Cortez told Rappler. “They can investigate without taking him into custody. He should have been released immediately after his statement was taken.”

Under the Rules of Court, a person may only be arrested without a warrant if he or she is caught in the act, if there’s probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, or if the person is a fugitive. 

The NUPL president explained that there’s a principle called the “emergency rule” where a person is considered not “criminally negligent” if that person was performing a lawful act with due care; the harm was caused by a mere accident; and there was no fault or intent to cause the injury.

“Witnesses and CCTV footage could verify that the victim fell just as he was passing through the area…. It was an accident, and putting the driver in an unavoidable situation where hitting the victim was inevitable. In such a situation, the driver has no opportunity to consider which action is safest,” Cortez added.

Lawyer and Bukidnon 2nd District Representative Jonathan Keith Flores said that what the QCPD had actually done was an illegal arrest and detention since there was no offense committed in the first place, adding: “The circumstances of the situation clearly show that QCPD had no probable cause to arrest and detain the motorist. QCPD clearly violated the rights of the motorist.”

National Police Commission (Napolcom) vice chairperson and executive officer Rafael Calinisan clarified that arrest is not the default action under police traffic procedures. Calinisan, however, said that the procedures on police traffic rules need to be clarified in the Napolcom and PNP’s new manual.

“Any lawyer worth his salt would agree that no amount of due diligence could have prevented that type of incident. Depriving a clearly innocent person of liberty under the guise of standard procedure is contrary to the tenets of justice,” the Napolcom chief said.

Pending bills

There are actually pending bills in the Senate and the House of Representatives that seek to protect drivers involved in accidents. The proposed measures, both filed in 2025, seek to protect law-abiding motorists from automatic detention when they get involved in road accidents with other drivers.

In his House Bill No. 4769, Flores said the often misinterpreted Article 2185 of the Civil Code has led to drivers in road accidents being considered automatically at fault, even in cases where the other parties may have been negligent or partly responsible.

Article 2185 states that unless there is proof to the contrary, a person driving a vehicle is presumed negligent if, at the time of the accident, the said person is violating any traffic regulation.

“This bill, therefore, aims to clarify the presumptions applicable in road safety incidents or vehicular
mishaps to protect law-abiding drivers from misapplied legal presumptions, and to clearly identify the
proper authorities who should make the initial assessment of such presumptions,” Flores said in his explanatory note.

Meanwhile, Senator JV Ejercito’s Senate Bill No. 338, or the proposed Defensive Driving Protection Act, seeks to prevent the detention of a driver involved in a vehicular accident as long as the person can present sufficient proof or evidence that will prove that the person did not violate any traffic laws during the incident.

Among the evidence they can present are dash camera videos, CCTV footage, or other videos or images from other witnesses.

“In cases where individuals can provide compelling evidence of their innocence or defensive driving, authorities should swiftly release them. By prioritizing the swift release of innocent drivers and conducting thorough investigations, we can establish a more equitable and just system that protects the rights of all parties involved in accidents,” Ejercito said.

According to Calinisan, the Senate measure would change the flawed traffic rules where arrest is used as the default response in road accidents.

“Arrest should not be the default response in incidents involving motorists. If there’s clear evidence that the motorist followed the laws and there’s no negligence, we have no basis to arrest the driver,” the Napolcom chief said in Filipino.

Unfortunately, both bills are still pending at the committee level and have yet to progress since 2025. – Rappler.com